Archives for December 2019

"An unpromising person appearing in a failed land." Ray Ortlund Jr. "Nothing but divine revelation can make the servant known to us and draw us to him. What the human eye missed, what can be known only by revelation is now stated in this section (v4-6)." Alec Motyer "Christmas means that we are so lost, so unable to save ourselves, that nothing less than the death of the...

In chapter 11, Isaiah continues to proclaim how God meets our needs within our broken world of sin through the promised Messiah. Instead of trusting in man's strength and wisdom, the perfect ruler is empowered by the Holy Spirit and delights in the fear of the Lord. In perfect righteousness, he rules and judges without bias toward the rich or powerful. You cannot avoid, br...

"At the close of chapter 10, what do we see? The infestation of human pride like a vast forest cut down. God swings his axe, and the whole evil system falls. Bare stumps as far as the eye can see. No branches waving in the wind, no birds, no life, no movement, no sound. The world is dead. But wait. Something new appears."-Ray Ortlund Jr. "Here is a king in whose hands the...

"Judah was hardly the China of the ancient world; it was tiny in comparison to Egypt to its south and Assyria to its north-east. But together with its sister kingdom Israel it occupied a strategic place astride the land routes linking Africa with Central Asia and the Far East. It lay at the centre of the known world and made the astounding claim that its God, the LORD, was...

As the first sermon in the Foretold: Christmas According to Isaiah series, we explored the darkness that had come upon Judea after King Uzziah's death. Then, God's people followed their new king, Ahaz, and trusted in their own wisdom for salvation by plotting with Assyria instead of trusting in God. In the midst of this, Isaiah prophesies about what God will do for his peo...